University of Tehran on behalf of the "Cyberspace Research Policy Center" and the "UNESCO Chair on Cyberspace and Culture: Dual Spacization of the World" Journal of Cyberspace Studies 2588-5499 10 2 2026 07 01 Minds at stake: Generative AI, epistemic power, and the competition for knowledge 341 346 106467 10.22059/jcss.2026.412464.1242 EN Ehsan Shahghasemi Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. Journal Article 2026 04 05 The rapid diffusion of generative artificial intelligence as a primary interface for information-seeking has introduced a new and underexplored dimension of power in contemporary societies. As hundreds of millions of users worldwide increasingly turn to large language models for answers to everyday questions, the corporations that develop and deploy these systems have gained an unprecedented capacity to shape what people know, how they reason, and whose version of the world prevails. Drawing on Shoshana Zuboff's theory of surveillance capitalism and Michel Foucault's analytics of power/knowledge, this article argues that the competition among major technology firms in the generative AI sector is not merely commercial but fundamentally epistemic. Through a review of recent empirical data on AI adoption and a critical analysis of market concentration, the article demonstrates that a small number of corporate actors— operating with limited public accountability and considerable opacity— are consolidating control over the epistemic infrastructure of daily life. This concentration reproduces and deepens existing asymmetries of knowledge, raising urgent questions for democratic governance. The article concludes by calling for the reconceptualisation of AI information systems as public epistemic infrastructure, subject to transparency requirements, independent auditing, and democratic oversight. https://jcss.ut.ac.ir/article_106467_8b8a20f19b963dad47d15dc1fb60af77.pdf